


Temper, Temper

by Antiloquist



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Baking, Familial Fluff, Families of Choice, Found Families, Gen, Gender-Neutral Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Other characters feature briefly, Valentione's Day (Final Fantasy XIV), platonic fluff, reminder that the & tag is platonic and/or familial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29763486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antiloquist/pseuds/Antiloquist
Summary: Alphinaud is determined to outgift his sister in their yearly Valentione’s competition. Knowing his limits, he decides to enlist outside help.
Relationships: Alphinaud Leveilleur & Warrior of Light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Bookclub Valentione's Fic Exchange 2021





	Temper, Temper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoF10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoF10/gifts).



> Many moons ago, I had a roommate who was a hobby confectioner. A lot of my knowledge on this process comes from what I remember of stuff they told me.
> 
> Title refers to a specific step in chocolate-making.

For once in their life, the Warrior had no obligations whatsoever. Having just put the last of the unsundered to rest and completed the arduous task of seeing their comrades home, the prospect of a clean schedule was daunting in and of itself. The Warrior, however, was not wont to look a gift chocobo in the face.

No, they intended to do one of the things they cherished most with this free time: sleep. After who knows how long of fighting and running, the prospect of hours (days, perhaps?) of nothing but oblivion was more tempting than even the greatest of riches.

That was why, when a pounding sounded at their bedroom door at the crack of dawn, they were half-tempted to ignore it.

Instead of leaving, however, the knocks got more consistent. Joining them was a familiar voice calling their name.

“Are you awake? It’s important!” the stressed voice of Alphinaud floated through the door and into their ears.

If the boy himself was attempting to rouse them instead of sending someone else to do his work, it must indeed be important. Sighing and groaning, the Warrior lifted themself from the bed and trudged over to the door. They opened it to reveal, as suspected, a somewhat panicked looking Alphinaud.

“Alphy,” they greeted, yawning. “Have you any idea what time it is?”

Alphinaud nodded frantically. “Yes, all too well! We must hurry before it’s too late!” He grabbed the Warrior’s arm and tugged them along.

They looked back to their room. “Uh, weapons?” they asked.

“No need,” Alphinaud replied with a shake of his head. A diplomatic errand, then.

Resigning themself to their loss of rest, they allowed Alphinaud to drag them out of the Rising Stones, past the House of Splendors and up to the very top floor of the related building. The sky was dim with gloom, broken only by the scant rays of the rising sun.

Alphinaud didn’t stop until he had pulled the Warrior all the way to the kitchen on the top floor. On the table were a myriad of different ingredients. The Warrior wondered where the grumpy Lalafellin chef that always complained about the high tables had gotten off to.

“What’s… all this?” the Warrior asked as they stopped to catch their breath; they hadn’t expected to run this early in the morning.

“Ingredients. I set them out yesterday evening and had intended to return here bells ago. Instead, however, I slept far longer than intended!”

The Warrior frowned. “All you’ve been doing for  _ moons _ is sleeping,” they retorted. “... Technically.”

“It’s been proven by study that sleeping too much is a large contributor to continued fatigue,” Alphinaud said matter-of-factly, holding up a finger as if he were reciting from memory some tidbit of knowledge he’d learned long ago.

Chuckling, the Warrior shook their head affectionately. Even through the growth they had seen in the boy, some things about Alphinaud would never change. “Alright, what scheme are you roping me into this time?” Though the words were accusatory in their base form, the Warrior’s amused tone and smile betrayed their mirth.

Alphinaud blushed. “Nothing dangerous, I promise!” he asserted. “I need you to assist me in… making chocolates.”

That came out of nowhere, the Warrior thought, blinking in confusion. When had Alphinaud ever shown an interest in confectionery crafts? “... Chocolates,” they repeated.

“Yes?” Alphinaud responded, as if he were saying something so blatantly obvious even a dullahan could see it. “Don’t you remember what day it is?”

If the Warrior were to be honest… no. Moons of traveling between two words with vastly different time speeds and calendars had left them without knowledge of what day of the  _ week _ it even was, let alone any specific date.

The Warrior’s silence must have betrayed their confusion, as Alphinaud shook his head. “The fourteenth of the First Umbral Moon,” he said, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “You know… Valentione’s?”

“What, already?” the Warrior questioned incredulously. They could have  _ sworn  _ that Starlight had only  _ just _ passed… “Well, that would explain the chocolate, but who-“

“I’m not going to let her outdo me again this year!” Alphinaud explained, punching his open palm with his other first. He proceeded to the cupboards and began to pull out all sorts of measuring and mixing implements.

The Warrior followed cautiously. “Whoa there, Alphy. Slow down, start from the beginning. Who’s outdoing you?”

Alphinaud sighed. “Right, you’d not be privy to the family traditions.” He cleared his throat. “Ever since we were old enough to be trusted in the kitchen while supervised, Alisaie and I have had a game of sorts. Every year, on Valentione’s, we attempt to give each other sweets that are superior to the other’s. I can’t help but suspect now that it was our parents’ way of measuring our mettle… one of them, anyway, but I digress.” He scowled. “Every year I have tried and  _ every year _ Alisaie has outdone me. But not anymore, not this time.” He turned to face the Warrior. “Because this time, I’ve got you.”

“Uh…” While the Warrior could definitely cook for themself and was even a card-carrying member of the Culinarians' Guild, chocolates were… tricky. “Why me? Surely Tataru would be better for-“

“Are you joking? Tataru would never let me live it down! Besides, you know what happens when you owe Tataru a favor…” He shuddered, and the Warrior couldn’t help but think back to how effortlessly Tataru had blackmailed poor Captain Carvallain. There hadn’t been a shred of remorse in the Lalafell’s tone, and the Warrior couldn’t help but thank the Twelve that Tataru was on  _ their _ side.

The Warrior nodded. “Fair point,” they conceded. “I suppose that makes me the next best choice.”

“Precisely.” Alphinaud pulled a book off the shelf behind him and opened it to a page he had bookmarked previously. “I’ve never attempted this particular recipe before, so I figured two individuals would produce a better result than one.” He pushed a sack of sugar over to the Warrior. “Here, measure this for me.”

“What’s the magic word?” the Warrior teased, knowing that while Alphinaud had made strides since first they met, sometimes the silver-spoon lifestyle the boy had grown up in made its way to the surface.

Alphinaud blinked in confusion before he realized what they meant. “Oh, right, please,” he amended, seeming genuinely bashful to have forgotten.

The Warrior chuckled, reaching out to give Alphinaud a pat on the head. “There we go.” Through all they’d been through, the Warrior had come to see Alphinaud as the younger brother they’d never had, feeling pride in the boy’s accomplishments aside a desire to protect him.

Pouting but not protesting, Alphinaud returned to the book, poring over the entry he’d selected. “It says here that we have to heat it to this precise temperature and keep it that way.”

“Yes, that’s called tempering the chocolates.” The Warrior pondered the strange phrasing for a moment before deciding it didn’t matter. Eorzean was a strange language anyway; some people joked about it following other languages down dark alleyways and mugging them for loose grammar.

Nodding, Alphinaud pulled a thermometer out of a drawer. “Elemental magic is admittedly not a speciality of mine, which is also why you’re here,” he informed.

“As a supplement to the fire and ice shards we’re using,” the Warrior surmised, glancing over to the small bowl of assorted aetheric catalysts with a snort. “Nice to know I’m so valued.”

Alphinaud frowned. “You know it’s much more than that,” he protested, folding his arms. “... you’re also the one I trust the most… on par with Urianger, probably.” The Warrior couldn’t help but find this statement ironic due to the older Elezen’s often cryptic nature. However, considering that Urianger also practically helped raise Alphinaud and his sister, they also conceded that this too was a fair point.

“I know,” they said instead of voicing their current thoughts. “I’m just teasing.”

“This is almost as insulting as the time you called me stinky.”

The Warrior shrugged. “To be fair, we both were. We’d been trekking for malms in that horrid light-induced heat.”

“I still have no idea how Alisaie managed to make it so long in the desert…” Alphinaud mused with a shake of his head as he pulled what appeared to be cow’s milk along with butter out of an icebox he’d brought with him.

Pondering for a moment, the Warrior finished measuring the sugar and passed the cup over to Alphinaud. “Spite,” they finally concluded. “Tell that girl she can’t and she’ll bend over backwards to prove you wrong.” The Warrior was equally as fond of Alisaie as they were of Alphinaud, cherishing the twins as family.

“You know, that’s probably why she wins every year, too…” Alphinaud said, crouching until he was eye-level with the butter as he used a blunt knife to slice it into the exact amount he needed.

Without prompting, the Warrior began measuring the cocoa powder to the specifications of the cookbook.

“Alright, I do believe that’s everything.” Alphinaud was double and then triple checking the measurements to make sure they were accurate before looking back up at the Warrior. “Unless you have any suggestions?”

The Warrior thought for a moment. “Diving Dove back at the guild says to always add a pinch of salt. Sounds counterproductive, but it actually keeps it from being sickly sweet. She’s one of the best I know, so I say do it.”

Alphinaud raised an eyebrow but added a pinch of salt anyway. “I don’t know enough about this to say otherwise,” he relented.

“The great Alphinaud admitting he doesn’t know something?” the Warrior retorted with mock shock. “Now I  _ know _ this isn’t real.”

Rolling his eyes, Alphinaud poured all the ingredients into a pan before crushing a shard over it to start the heat.

The two of them took turns mixing, eyeing the thermometer to make sure the heat never rose too high or dipped too low. When they were finally finished with the melting and mixing process, the smell that filled the kitchen was divine.

The Warrior’s stomach growled. “Perhaps we should sample some for quality contr-“

“Not a chance,” Alphinaud interrupted. “If they’re inedible, Alisaie will be the first to know.” He brought the pan over to a set of molds he had set out earlier, which the Warrior now realized were shaped like little porxies.

“Reminding Alisaie of your superior artistic prowess?” The Warrior questioned, crushing enough shards to keep the temperature stable as Alphinaud poured. Memories of the misshapen clay porxie that became Angelo came back to their mind.

Alphinaud smirked. “But of course. She may have me beaten in swimming and the culinary arts, but I can draw,” he said haughtily as he finished pouring the last of the chocolates.

Any potential response the Warrior could have had was cut off by a crash and subsequent yelling from downstairs.

“An attack?” Alphinaud had his book undone from his hip holster in an instant, ready to speak the incantations to bring forth Moonstone Carbuncle at any moment.

Two more crashes, then the yelling became louder and more distinct. Wait, the Warrior knew those voices…

“I don’t think so,” they said, heading to the doorway and motioning for Alphinaud to follow. They tiptoed over to the outside balcony just in time to see Rowena and Gerolt exit downstairs, squabbling as always. Gerolt must have accidentally knocked down another one of Rowena’s displays again, the Warrior figured.

“Is that Gerolt?” Alphinaud wondered, putting his book away. “I thought you told me he was assisting the resistance effort in Gangos…”

The Warrior shrugged. “Well, it  _ is _ Valentione’s. I hardly think Gerolt would let the day go by without coming over to hassle Rowena.” Being the only one save for Mikoto who was privy to the man’s true feelings for the merchant, they smirked as they watched Rowena throw a box of chocolates at Gerolt. The Warrior had a pretty good feeling things weren’t unrequited between them. Now if only they’d figure it out…

“But don’t they hate each other?”

“You’ll figure it out when you’re older, Alphy,” the Warrior responded, chuckling.

Alphinaud pouted. “I’m not  _ that _ young, you know.” He peeked over the edge again. “Those chocolates look rather expensive. I wonder if Rowena-“ he cut himself off, realization crossing his features. “The chocolates! We’ve left them unattended!” He dashed back towards the kitchen, leaving the Warrior to chase after him.

The Warrior came back to the kitchen to find Alphinaud internally poring over his poured chocolates. “I think they’re alright…” he said, gaze flickering between the cookbook and the chocolates. His face then fell. “Oh no, it says to let them cool for two bells! But Alisaie and I are due to meet in less than one!” He looked to the bowl of shards, finding it pitifully lacking in ice aspected ones.

“Hmm…” the Warrior said, thinking. They had an idea, but they didn’t know if it was a good one. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures… “Don’t worry, Alphy. I’ve got this handled.” Calling forth their knowledge of the arcane arts and ancient black magic, they willed frost to their fingertips, letting an aura of ice settle over the chocolate.

Gently now… if the chocolates cooled too fast, the batch would be ruined. They just needed to use enough aether to start a gradual process… there! 

They stepped back, electing to let the cloud of ice to slowly dissipate on its own as it cooled the confections. Alphinaud was staring in disbelief. “Did… did you just use ancient Mhachi techniques for  _ cooking _ ?”

Right, nothing ever escaped the notice of a scholar like Alphinaud. “Improvise, adapt, overcome?” the Warrior offered.

This answer seemed to satisfy Alphinaud, who shrugged as he waved a hand over the chocolates to verify they were safe to the touch. Picking up the tray, he lightly tapped the chocolates out onto a clean sheet of waxed parchment.

They were  _ perfect _ . “Hah!” Alphinaud exclaimed, punching the air in triumph. “I’d like to see her outdo  _ this! _ I’ve done it!”

The Warrior cleared their throat pointedly, which brought Alphinaud back to reality. “Er, I mean,  _ we _ did it,” he corrected. “Thank you, truly.”

“Anytime, Alphy,” the Warrior said, patting Alphinaud on the head again. This time the boy took the gesture in stride as he began to box up the chocolates. The box was decorated with painstakingly done handwritten calligraphy.

(Alphinaud never  _ was  _ someone to do anything in halves…)

Grinning, Alphinaud tied the ribbon on the box into a bow. “Let’s go find her. She’s probably still asleep.” He grabbed the box and dashed for the door… only to collide with the girl in question, knocking both siblings to the ground. Speak of the voidsent…

“Alphinaud!” Alisaie chided as she pulled herself to her feet. She very pointedly didn’t offer her brother a hand up. “What on earth are you doing up here?!”

“Perfecting my gift,” Alphinaud boasted, taking a scant moment longer than his sister to scramble to his feet. “What about  _ you?” _

Alisaie cleared her throat. “Likewise,” she said, her tone taking on that inflection it often had when she was (poorly) lying. She was up to something.

“What’s that behind your back?” The Warrior questioned, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the girl.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” Alisaie retorted, deflecting the question. “Asking for help is cheating, Alphinaud!”

Alphinaud took advantage of his sister’s distraction to dart around her and snatch what she was hiding. 

It was two boxes: one empty and one full. The full one seemed to contain clearly store-bought chocolates, judging by the label and price tag still attached.

“Oh,  _ I’m _ cheating?” Alphinaud retorted, crossing his arms. “What’s  _ this, _ then?”

Her dark secret revealed, Alisaie gradually turned a deeper shade of red as she defended her actions.

Seeing that their services were no longer needed, the Warrior slipped past the twins as they made their way downstairs, laughing all the way.

Some things never changed.

**Author's Note:**

> I realize now that the prompt specified that the WoL should be equally a disaster in the kitchen but I was too caught up in Alisaie’s dark secret to remember.
> 
> Anyhow, come join us at the bookclub for more challenges!
> 
> <https://discord.gg/enabling-debauched-xivfic>


End file.
